Dear Candidates, March 1, 2008

Dear Candidates,

Although I typically stick to traditional advertising, I am going to take a brief forray into campaign strategy – signage. As you may or may not know (I’m going to guess all that campaigning has gotten in the way of reading this blog), I am all about keeping things consistent. In this realm, one candidate succeeds, and the other does not.

Even when the message is slightly different, the fonts and colors on Obama’s supporters’ signs are the same. He uses a nearly identical placard on the front of the podium when he speaks and nearly everyone is holding an “Obama ‘08″ sign or a sign that says “Change we Can Believe In” on one side, and “Stand for Change” on the other. This consistency allows Obama to drive home his message with even the most casual observer.

And then we have Clinton. This post was inspired by noticing the changing signage at every event. Everything from placards on her podiums to the signs punctuating the audience to the banners hanging behind her change with each rally. They include (but are not limited to):

Solutions for America

Clinton Country

Hillary (Which could not look more different than Clinton Country – if “Hillary” were made by a fourth grade teacher who dabbles in calligraphy, “Clinton Country” was made by one of her students)

Rebuilding the Road to the Middle Class

And they all look dramatically different. And I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that this simple element (signs, placards, and banners) is actually a microcosm of their campaigns as a whole.

Good Luck on the Trail,

K